1. Field:
The disclosure relates generally to an improved data processing system and more specifically to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for automatically increasing the quality of content provided to a user in a role within the context of performing a particular task over time.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Community of Practice (CoP) is a special type of informal network that emerges from a desire to work more effectively or to understand work more deeply among members of a particular specialty or work group. People in a CoP may perform the same job, such as technical representatives, collaborate on a shared task, such as software developers, or work together on a product, such as engineers. These people are colleagues, bound together by their common responsibility to get a certain type of “real work” done. Typically, many communities of practice exist within a single company, and most people belong to more than one CoP.
CoP refers to the process of social learning, which occurs when people who have common goals interact as they strive towards those goals. CoP has become associated with knowledge management as people have begun to see a CoP as a way of nurturing new knowledge, stimulating innovation, and sharing existing knowledge within an organization. The knowledge that is shared and learned in communities of practice is social capital. People connect at various levels and across departments, both internally and externally of a company or organization, without the constraints of a formal company structure. As people connect with each other, they are able to share their expertise and learn from other members. Benefits include problem solving, developing new capabilities, leveraging best practices, standardizing practices, saving time, increasing talent, avoiding mistakes, and creating new knowledge.
Studies show that workers spend a third of their time looking for information and are five times more likely to turn to a coworker rather than an explicit source of information, such as a book. Time is saved by conferring with members of a CoP. People have tacit knowledge, which is not found in a book. For example, one person may share the best way to handle a situation based on personal experience, which may enable other members in the CoP to avoid similar mistakes and shorten the learning curve. In a CoP, members can openly discuss and brainstorm about a project that may lead to new capabilities. The type of information that is shared and learned in a CoP is boundless. A CoP is usually formed within a single discipline in order to focus efforts in sharing knowledge, solving problems, or innovative ventures.